This means customers are at best breaking even under Starbucks’ strawless scheme, or they are adding between .32 and .88 grams to their plastic consumption per drink. Given that customers are going to use a mix of the larger and smaller nitro lids, Starbucks’ plastic consumption is bound to increase, although it’s anybody’s guess as to how much.

At most, straws account for about 2,000 tons of the 9 million tons of plastic that are estimated to enter the ocean each year, according to the Associated Press—.02 percent of all plastic waste. The pollution problem posed by straws looks even smaller when considering that the United States is responsible for about one percent of plastic waste entering the oceans, with straws being a smaller percentage still.

The Mayor of the City of Lincoln has purposed a 3% increase in several staff members.

For example, no one on the City Council knew Hoppe got an 8 percent raise last year, she said. “We never voted on that increase,” because the exact number was not listed in the previous two-year budget.

As portions of the article say, it is just a proposal & that there was a raise or two not approved by the City Council.

Last time I check, there is a system of checks and balances in the Mayoral – City Council structure.